Boat



April 1961 N. P. s. STRAUSSLER 2,977,606

BOAT

Filed April 21, 1958 BOAT Nicholas Peter Sorrel] Straussler, 2 Blvd. duTheatre,

7 Geneva, Switzerland Filed Apr. 21, 1958, Ser. No. 729,659 ,4 Claims;(Cl. 9-4) The present invention has for its object a boat which ischaracterized by the fact thatit comprises two plane side boards taperedat their ends and connected one to the other along their lower edge byan impervious joint, holding means being provided in order to hold thetwo said boards in a defined position one with respect to the other, andbythe fact that a float is fixed against the outer face of each of saidboards.

The annexed drawing shows diagrammatically and by way of'example oneembodiment of the boat object of the invention.

2,977,606 Patented Apr. 4, 1961 knuckle-joint formed by the levers 6 and7. As shown 1 in Fig. 3, the two boards 1 in the open position have a Vshape the opening of which, in the central part of the boat, is largerthan in its end parts. I

-A floor-board 13 constitutes the bottom of the boat. said floor-board13 is formed by plane elements, for

- example, in plywood which rest on supports 14 fixed to the inner faces11 of the boards 1.

In order to confer satisfactory stability to the boat,

floats 15 are secured to the outer walls of the side boards 1. The saidfloats are each constituted by a cylindrically shaped bag, elongated andtapered at its ends. Each bag has a cross section of a generallysemi-circular shape. The plane wall 16 of the semi-cylinder isreinforced and provided with fixing members 17 for securing the float tothe board 1. A valve 18 passing through the board 1 allows one toinflate the float from inside the boat and of deflating the same.

,Fig. 1 is side view of the boat in the folded condition,

. the two side boards being applied one against the other.

prises two plane side boards 1 of a semi-flexible material such asplywood, a synthetic plastic material, glass fiber, or other similarmaterial.

The two boards 1 are identical and have the same tapered outline attheir two ends.

The upper edge a is slightly convex whereas the lower edge b is slightlyconvex in its central part and more highly curved in its end parts, asclearly shown in Fig. l.

The lower edges b of the. two boards 1 are hinged one with respect tothe other by means of a continuous impervious joint 2. The said joint isof a pliant and elastic material such as natural or synthetic reinforcedrubber or other material sufliciently flexible to constitute acontinuous articulation, but sufliciently strong to resist i thestresses and wear through abrasions to which the said joint is normallysubjected during use of the boat.

The said impervious joint 2 is constituted by a shaped piece having thegeneral form of a U'each wing of which is provided with a longitudinalgroove 4 in which is engaged the edge b of aboard '1 (Fig. 2). Thecenter portion of the joint 2 has an unfilled hollow portion 0 enablingthe large angular movement to be made with- 1 out stress upon thematerial. The edge a of each board 1 engages in the groove 3 of aprotection member 5 having a generally U-shaped cross section.

The boat is furthermore provided withholding devices which tendto holdthe two boards 1 in the open position (Figs. 3 and 5). The said devicesare each constituted bytwo levers 6,,7 hinged at 8 ,by one of their endsto thevinner face of each board 1, their other ends being hinged: onetothe other at 9. Alug 10 integral with one of the levers, defines theiropen position, the latter then forming a knuckle-joint. A safety peg 12is provided in order to ensure "the open'position of each 'lever 6, 7and ayoid any possibility of inopportune closure of the two boardsoneagainst the other through'abreak of the The trials carried out haveproved that a boat such as the one described has an excellent stabilityand constitutes a pleasure boat, ideal for camping, for example. Indeed,its transport in the folded state (the two boards 1 being folded backone against the other and the floats 15 being deflated) offers nodifliculty, all the more so that its weight is very light in comparisonwith the weight of all known folding boats comprising a rigid hull andthat, moreover, its constitutional elements'are plane.

An embodiment of a folding boat according to the invention has beendescribed by way of example and with reference to the annexed drawing,but it is obvious that many varied forms may be provided.

Thus, for example, the side floats 15 instead of being removable asdescribed above may be permanently fixed to the side boards 1. Inanother embodiment, the said floats could be of light metal such asaluminum or of wood for example. The said rigid floats may be fixedrigidly or in a removable manner to the side boards 1.

In another embodiment of the boat according to the invention, the twoside boards could be rigidly connected one with the other and inanimpervious manner, by means of a joint constituted by a generallytriangular shaped member, rigidly fixed to the boards 1 inside the boat,along the edges b. In such a case, the boat cannot be folded, butpreserves all its lightness. It is obvious that such anon-folding boatis also provided with rigid or inflatable floats fixed rigidly or in aremovable manner to the outer walls of the side boards .1.

in another embodiment, each holding device or spreading device could beconstituted by a single lever hinged to one of the side boards andbearing against the other 7 board.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a raft built of a removable 1. A folding boatcomprising a hull formed of two plane sideboards tapered at their ends,an impervious joint connecting said two sideboards one to the otheralong their lower edges, means for holding the'upper edges of 'saidsideboards away one from the other,.said impervious joint being in theform of a hinge having a curved axis and made of a shaped piece ofsupple and elastic material, said hinge having a U-shaped cross section,the central part of said U-shaped cross section having a constantthickness, an unfilled hollow portionin said central part, alongitudinal grooveformed' in the 3 end of each of the wings of saidU-shaped hinge, said References Cited in the file of this patent loweredges of said two sideboards engaging said grooves, UNITED STATESPATENTS whereby sa1d two sideboards are connected one to the other in awatertight manner along the whole length of 1335 Bfitchelor 20'1841their lower edges by means of said hinge which' enables 5 Flala June 8,1925 the folding and the unfolding of said folding boat. 1,79,976streussler M 1 1931 2. A folding boat as claimed in claim 1 and compris-Splro 1948 ing further a float fastened on the outer face of each of2,745,118 Potts et May 1955 the said sideboards of said hull. FOREIGNPATENTS 3. A folding boat as claimed in claim 2 and in which 10 saidfloats are each of elongated shape and tapered at 257300 Italy 1928 bothends said floats havin a cross section of a eneral 479'564 Germany 1926semicmul'ar shape g g 2335 German M1 1932 4. A folding boat as claimedin claim 3 in which said 03 Great Bmam 1947 floats are removablyfastened to said outer faces of said 15 OTHER REFERENCE? planesideboards. Popular Mechanics, September 1946, p. 123.

